Sunday, December 4, 2011

Shakedown

Thanks to a friend, who works at a certain Seattle based snow sports company, I got new gear this year. The entire setup is a pretty big departure from what I was riding and so I figured it'd just make good sense to head up to Hurricane Ridge and see what I need to do to my setup to get it working for me. While that sounds all well and good, hiking up with an unfamiliar kit for short little bunny slope type runs is actually a pain in the ass. The setup most definitely is different from what I was on, longer, narrower, and with very different flex characteristics. My two earned runs did not go well. On the first one I bit it hard right in front of a large group and the second didn't go much better. All I know right now is that I'm going to need a sharper edge and better snow to really sort out what works and what doesn't. Thankfully, if it's not working, I just give back whatever isn't cutting it, pay less than pro-form for what is and try over next season, and with a lift a mere 17 miles from my door it's a win-win no matter what.